If the Trail Blazers ever needed a reminder just how fragile their season is, Monday came and bit them in the behind.

The Blazers were drilled 104-93 at the Rose Garden by lowly Philadelphia, who hung around just long enough to administer an emphatic wake-up call that ended the Blazers' surprising four-game winning streak.

"It just didn't look like us," said rookie Jeff Pendergraph, who had a career-high 11 points and was one of the few Blazers who played well.

The Blazers were sluggish and never able to put away the 76ers, despite leading by as many as 10 points in the third quarter.

It was equal parts poor offense and loose defense, as the Blazers clanked jump shot after jump shot, while watching the 76ers get easy layups, either by pounding the ball inside or streaking on a fast break.

Philadelphia shot a sizzling 65 percent from the field in the second half while scoring 61 points. For the game, the 76ers scored a whopping 60 points in the paint, the most allowed by the Blazers this season.

Most of the damage was done by veteran Elton Brand, who in his 11th season made the Blazers look like kids as he had his way with anyone around him. He finished with 25 points and nine rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench.

The Blazers' game plan was to always have a defender in front of Brand to discourage an entry pass, but it rarely happened. Brand maneuvered in the paint with such ease it looked like a morning shootaround.

"How long has he been in the league?" Pendergraph asked rhetorically. "And I've been in the league, three games, four? Jeez. There you go right there. Crash course man. He's probably the most active big man I've had to play against."

It served as the perfect reminder that the Blazers are too depleted, too small and too reliant upon jump shots to just waltz into an arena and win. In their four previous games, all against teams with winning records, the Blazers scrapped and clawed their way to victories.

"I thought we played on our heels," coach Nate McMillan said. "We have to be the aggressors from start to finish."

Even as the Blazers were middling with six- and seven-point leads as Andre Miller was passing well and Steve Blake was hitting three-pointers early, the Blazers could never put away the 76ers. A 10-point third quarter lead was erased, and when Royal Ivey hit a fadeaway shot at the third quarter buzzer, the 76ers took a 77-73 lead.

Trailing in the fourth quarter? No problem. That's usually when the Blazers turn it on: Portland had outscored 15 of its past 18 opponents in the fourth quarter and had trailed by six or more in the fourth in each of its past four wins.

But the 76ers went on a 16-4 run early in the quarter, sending the Blazers to their fifth home loss.

"We're not good enough to do that every night," McMillan said.

On Monday, the Blazers were reminded of that, loud and clear. Notes: Small forward Nicolas Batum continues to progress in his recovery from right shoulder surgery and may be ready to return to the team as soon as its Jan. 18 trip that starts in Washington. Batum first needs to be cleared during a Jan. 4 exam in Los Angeles by the doctor who performed the surgery. Guard Rudy Fernandez, who had back surgery on Dec. 8, is also hopeful to return for the same trip. Fernandez is more likely to return before Batum, athletic trainer Jay Jensen said. ... Guard Patty Mills (broken right foot) has been cleared medically to practice. His return is now a coaching decision based on conditioning and knowledge of the team's plays. ...

The Blazers today are hopeful to receive their second hardship exception of the season, which allows them to sign a player to a non-guaranteed contract while injured players recover. Leading candidates are center Dwayne Jones (6-foot-11, 250 pounds) who is averaging 18.6 points, 14.8 rebounds and 2.6 blocks for Austin in the Development League, and Earl Barron (6-11, 230), who is averaging 14.4 points and 9.9 rebounds for Iowa in the Development League. ... Brandon Roy led the Blazers with 24 points, the 13th consecutive game he has scored 23 or more. ... Allen Iverson returned after missing four games with a shoulder injury. He had 19 points on 7 of 11 shooting, hitting all three of his shots and scoring nine points in the fourth. ... Jerryd Bayless went 0 for 7 from the field and is 2 of 17 in his last two games.